The benefits of building information modelling in construction noise control in the pre-construction phase (a focus on urban area constructions) Nasim Babazadeh 1 Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Marien street 7A, Room 201 Dr.-Ing.Hans Joachim Bargstädt 2 Bauhaus- Universität Weimar Marien street 7A, Room 205

ABSTRACT For inner-city construction activities, the propagated construction noise is considered the primary source of nuisance for the surrounding area. Due to the short distance between the site and neighboring buildings, passive noise control techniques such as noise barriers have a limited mitigating impact. As a result, construction companies should anticipate encountering complaints and lawsuits from residents of adjacent buildings, leading to project delays or cost overruns. Previous studies for construction noise control have primarily focused on a real-time solution such as data collection by sensors during the execution phase. Although the guidelines recommend that source management is the most effective method of controlling construction noise, there is no systematic approach for focusing on construction noise during the planning phase. Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been widely used to achieve effective project management, such as time and cost control. However, the benefits of BIM for noise-considered time planning in the pre-construction phase still need to be exploited. This research will focus on the potential of BIM for addressing construction noise as an additional factor during time planning. The findings show how multiple process plans using BIM-supported platforms can be planned and controlled to achieve the lowest risk of discomfort for neighboring area residents.

1. INTRODUCTION

Noise is a sort of environmental pollution that poses a health risk by impairing people's hearing and perception, influencing their physiological and psychological stability and job performance and lowering the quality of the environment's ambiance in terms of pleasantness and peacefulness. Noise pollution, also known as acoustic pollution, has risen dramatically in modern contexts when compared to other types of pollution [1]. Specifically, propagated noise from construction work is one of the most severe environmental issues in urban areas as a result of the growing number of

1 nasim.babazadehkhameneh@uni-weimar.de 2 hans-joachim.bargstaedt@uni-weimar.de

construction and renovation projects and building operations involving heavy machinery and equipment [2]. Although these are temporary activities that are carried out over a certain time period, they can pose a danger of hearing damage to employees and create significant disruption due to high noise levels at distances of up to several hundred meters from the construction site. As a response to this nuisance, residents in surrounding communities may file complaints and lawsuits against construction companies, resulting in process disruption, compensation fees, or even project suspension which should be met by the project owner [3]. Also, in some countries, such as Germany, construction noise leads to disputes between landlords and tenants for rent reduction [4].

The result from the recently published noise survey of CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health) in England shows that noise complaints in local authorities increased by 54% between 2019- 2021, in which construction noise was the third most reported complaint [5]. This highlighted the fact that there is not enough emphasis on construction noise reduction measurements, and this aspect is requiring greater attention nowadays.

Construction noise management standards describe it as an attempt to reduce superfluous noise propagation and decrease inevitable noisy tasks [6]. An unavoidable task is one that should be finished in a short time owing to some restriction, such as traffic or an unacceptable danger to life, or one that cannot be easily interrupted, such as a concreting task. This regulation does not limit the broad authority of a local government or a police officer to examine the unreasonableness of noise at any period [7].

The second and third priorities are noise reduction in the propagation path and receiver control by replacing sensitive receptor inhabitants. When the number of residents in nearby buildings is so high in inner-city development, the replacement control strategy is nearly impossible. The distance between the construction site and the surrounding building, on the other hand, is frequently insufficient for the safe placement and installation of noise barriers, and the needed distance for best noise barrier performance is likewise inapplicable. Thus, the typical noise control approach employed by construction companies which relies on frequently monitoring the noise in the neighboring communities and building noise barriers at the site's boundaries, is inefficient for the reasons described above [2].

Therefore, construction noise should be considered throughout the project's pre-construction and detailed design phases, when there is flexibility in selecting the construction method and making modifications to the time schedule. Construction noise could play a role as effective criteria for the choice of construction methods, particularly for large-scale projects classified as high-impact projects, as well as sites located in residential and inner-city areas. To achieve this purpose, project participants such as the project planner, manager, and acoustic consultant should collaborate throughout the pre-construction phase. Building Information Modelling (BIM) can provide a collaborative working platform for acoustic expert and time planners at this point. In recent years, the construction industry has shown considerable interest in using smart sensors. In some research, to provide the workers' safety, ambient noise data collected by sensing devices installed at the construction sites or worn by the workers is transferred to a processor by using either IoT (Internet of Things) [8] or data mining techniques [9]. Furthermore, with the implementation of the BIM (Building Information Modelling) methods for construction safety analysis and training, some researchers have tried to estimate the construction noise hazards for workers. A framework designed by Wei et al. (2017) [10] has integrated noise data acquired by wearable sensors into Vectorworks, a BIM-based platform. The study's primary goal was to visualize the propagation of construction noise in order to protect construction workers from noise-induced hearing damage (NIHLI). Aguilar-Aguilera et al. (2020) [11] created a noise mapping solution for the BIM platform Revit by integrating the visual programming environment Dynamo with a Python script, result in noise propagation visualization in the same Revit model.

The main limitation of these studies is that the approaches are focused on a basic noise source, which doesn't represent the complexity of the construction noise sources and overlapping noisy tasks. Moreover, these frameworks are highly dependent on real-time monitoring data at the execution phase, in which the annoyance has already occurred. Therefore, they cannot be efficiently

implemented for the reduction of noise-related complaints. There is no study on how construction noise analysis can be included in the pre-construction time planning process. While BIM models can store the essential data for noise prediction models, this information must be exported and utilized in the construction noise prediction field.

The purpose of this study is to explain the benefits of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in construction noise management. It will also discuss how transparency in the planned construction schedule through BIM-based platforms might assist the acoustic consultant in collaborative noise prediction work. Noise maps can be generated for each construction phase by using the exported data from the 4D BIM model as noise sources. This prediction will also support the planner in deciding on the best construction method and adjusting the duration of the activity. These modifications could include dividing the noisy task into smaller packages or postponing the activity to another time window within the working hour. Furthermore, the noise-related nuisance of overlapping tasks running in parallel may be evaluated and controlled.

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Certain steps must be taken in order to create the optimal construction noise management strategy during the planning stage. In the detailed design phase, noise prediction should be conducted beside the construction method selection. This section is divided into two sections that go through the approach in detail.

2.1. Construction Noise propagation model The first step for the ideal construction noise control is that the project owner, as a responsible person, for the emitted noise from the site, should consult with an acoustic consulting office. The acoustic expert divides the construction process mainly into the steps such as clearing of the construction site, excavation, construction of foundations, structural work, facade work, interior finishing work, and, if necessary, production of the outdoor facilities. Later, these main phases are divided into smaller subtasks. Since the conventional time plans are complicated, to define noise sources and their location exported from subtasks, there is a need for an interpreter to explain the construction task to an acoustic expert, which also leads to a lack of collaboration and correct communication between the time planner and the acoustic expert.

Additional information such as the quantity of the allocated work package for a specific day, assigned equipment and the expected working duration for the construction task is also needed to be given to the acoustic consultant. Later, the defined noise sources and geodata information about the surrounding environment, and applied noise rules in the country, are imported into the noise mapping software for the preparation of the noise prediction model. Preparing the stepwise noise prediction model for the construction process is important in detecting and focusing on the zone that could be the source of noise-related complains. In the following section it will be discussed how the BIM- based time planning platform eases access to noise source information without the need for an interpreter.

2.2. Building Information Modeling (BIM) The building information modeling method is based on managing digital construction information throughout the project's lifespan. BIM working method can be implemented from early conceptual design, detailed design, construction phase and even long phase of operation. A BIM model can include not only geometric information for project components, but also semantic (non-physical) data such as timetable, zones, material, and component relations. Shifting from traditional methods to BIM-based working techniques has considerable benefits for the project. While it increases transparency in the construction process, it reduces inaccuracies in the building design and process plan [12].

BIM can also provide a collaboration format known as the BIM Collaboration Format (BCF) for information exchange between project parties at various phases. This data exchange is accomplished through the vendor-neutral exchange of digital data models known as Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) file format. This collaboration can be conducted in synchronous or asynchronously [13]. For

example, while the architect is working on the final design and details, the time planner can begin to establish the project's time schedule, which is referred to as the 4D BIM model. A 4D BIM model is a model of linked 3D geometry objects with information about the construction process schedule. Construction sequences can be visualized, evaluated, and animated using 4D BIM platforms. The logical process sequences and construction phases, as well as the plausibility of the time schedule, can be controlled using this visualization [12]. This transparent time plan also eliminates the need for the third person as an interpreter to define and divide the construction process for the acoustic expert. Figure 1 present the workflow of information between designer, time planner through IFC.

Figure 1: The information flow between designer, time planner and acoustic expert.

As shown in Figure 1, the quantity of the allocated work package for a specific day, duration, and assigned equipment for the process, which are the required information for generating a noise prediction model, known as noise maps, by an acoustic expert can be easily exported from the 4D BIM model. The main barrier to collaboration between acoustic experts and time planners is that noise mapping software such as CadnaA, Sound Plan, and IMMI does not accept IFC file formats. The possible methods for digitally exchanging this data are being researched and developed. As it will be described in the implementation section, the data exported from the BIM model is specified and manually imported into the noise mapping software. 3. IMPLEMENTATION

The proposed approach has been used to identify the starting point of excavation operations on a construction project in a residential area in the City of Weimar (Germany). Firstly, the site location, including elevation data for the surrounding buildings, is imported from the Thüringen Geodata portal [14]. In comparison to Google Earth [15], which includes some missing elevation data in smaller cities, this portal offers a massive collection of data at various levels of detail (LOD). Following the identification of sensitive receptors, the surrounding environment is segmented into different zones, as indicated in Figure 2. A school and a kindergarten are located in Zone 1, which need extra attention during scheduling, and Zones 2, 3, and 4 contains residential buildings. As shown in Figure 2, two starting points, namely A or B, can be chosen as a start port. The aim is to minimize the possible noise-related nuisance for the surrounding schools and residential buildings.

Designer Create 3D design | — eae [Structural ‘Time Planner Acoustic Expert ] [eeeeao btn] | ares ~+ Construction Method * Assigned equipment to process 4 Visualize construction process Construction noise assessment "Prepare Noise maps __,[ Define constriction noise management plan [Gonsnon rise monitoring pin

A

B

Figure 2: Site plan of the construction site segregated in different Zones

The architectural 3D Revit model of the building is imported through an IFC file to the DESITE md 2.8 (a BIM-based time planning platform) where the building elements will be linked with the time schedule. As is shown in Figure 3, needed information about the foundation task, like the overall volume of the excavation work, can easily be exported from the 4D BIM model. The coordination of points A and B can also be exported based on the reference point of the project. This information can help by defining noise sources in the noise mapping software. As seen in Figure 4, two possible starting and moving paths for the excavator with 500Hz and 103 dB (A) [17] are defined. In Scenario 1, the excavator will start from Point A and move towards the blue path. Point A is located between Zones 1 and 2, which is close to the school and kinder garden. In Scenario 2, the excavator will start from point B and move towards the red path. Point B is located between Zone 3 and Zone 4 and is close to residential buildings.

Figure 3: Volume of the excavation work obtained from the 4D BIM model from DESITE md

M_Pite cap-Rectan 2yOYASZPAITENIRDL volume 3, 6000 Suface Area 25,2000, Later Ar. 72208 Top Area 40000 tase Area 0000 [L= 71,91 m/A= 201,21 m Foundation siab:600;337667 yula:2000 x2000 x 980qm:229803 OVLAASECPSiLIOSOMt Volume 3perFane Stace Ar #45, 5603 Top Area 201,2065,

Figure 4: Assumed starting and moving paths for excavation activity at points A and B.

The noise maps for two scenarios can then be created in the next phase. The geodata model of surrounding area has been imported into the noise mapping program CadnaA. Following German noise control rules, since the project is located in a residential area, the permissible sound pressure level during the working hours (07:00–20:00) has been set at 50 dB (A). The values in Table 1 are collected from the German noise control recommendations [16]. Once noise sources, receiving points had defied in the noise mapping software, the calculation of noise propagation should be run. Table 1: The permissible sound pressure level in Germany (in dB(A)) [16].

Area Day Night

hospitals, recreation areas, nursery homes 45 35

residential-only areas 50 35

general residential areas 55 40

mixed, village and center areas 60 45

commercial areas 65 50

industry areas 70 70

4. Results Figure 5 and Figure 6 are the results of the noise maps prepared for the two scenarios. These noise maps can assist the timeplanner with the effects of the scheduled construction process for the foundation work. The changes in the working package can easily be made through BIM, and the planner can also compare the two defined time plans. As shown in Figure 5, the location of the excavator at point A affects the larger area that contains sensitive receptors, such as the school. Figure 6 shows the propagation of noise within the located excavator at point B. Within the comparison of these two noise maps, the location of the excavator at point B affects smaller areas compared to point

Th 4 1997/0y-218/ 620001

A. Therefore, to minimize the noise-related nuisances, the excavation task should start from point B and be followed by the red path shown in Figure 4. The excavation work for the blue path should be postponed and planned for after-school hours to minimize the nuisance for the students.

i * -. % ee = y= >

Residential Building

school

School

School

Residential Building

Residential Building

Figure 5: Noise maps prepared for Scenario.1 (excavator located at point A).

Residential Building

School

School

Residential Building

Figure 6: Noise maps prepared for Scenario.2 (excavator located at point B).

5. CONCLUSION

The simultaneous visualization of numerous scheduling variants in 4D BIM platforms can enhance the decision-making process. While the time planner can progressively check and compare potential scenarios and the overall effect of the adjustments in the project's final delivery duration. The main barrier to automating this procedure, as described in section 2.2, is the incapacity of noise mapping tools to accept IFC file types. Therefore, the noise sources exported from the 4D BIM model should be manually defined and imported. Future research will focus on the potential automated options for importing noise sources.

6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This project is supported by the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar with a scholarship within the framework of the "Thüringer Graduiertenförderung." The authors would like to express their gratitude to Dr. Benjamin Jäger and Mr. Alfred Beronius for their helpful insights. The chair of Building Physics at the Bauhaus Universität-Weimar provided the license for the CadnaA software. This support is greatly appreciated. 7. REFERENCES

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